14 PhD Programmes in Architecture Studies in North America for 2024

The Doctor of Architecture (Ph.D.) is a research degree suitable for students seeking a profession in teaching and scholarship in architecture and related areas, or positions in government or as a consultant requiring specialization and experience in research.

The Ph.D. in urban planning and public policy (UPPP) integrates the academic disciplines of urban planning and public policy by training Ph.D. students to conduct independent research that makes a substantive contribution to their chosen planning and policy subfields. The program prepares doctoral students for academic careers and for leadership in research positions in the public, private, or nonprofit sectors.

The Ph.D. in Urban Planning is focused on training individuals for future careers as teachers, researchers, policy-makers, and business entrepreneurs in and near the field of urban planning—in academia, government agencies, non-governmental organizations, and think tanks. The program equips students with the theoretical and methodological expertise to address important contemporary issues, such as climate change and adaptation, built environment transformation, immigration and migration, housing and community development, and poverty and inequality. It is a highly competitive doctoral program, accepting only three candidates each year.

The PHD in Architecture addresses the development of modern architectural form and ideas as they have been affected by social, economic, and technological change. In broad terms, it encompasses the relations between the profession, practice, civil institutions, and the society at large.

The PHD in Historic Preservation was launched in 2017 and is oriented toward the training of future historic preservation scholars. The first of its kind in the United States, the program aims to expand the discipline’s range of intellectual entanglements and cultivate new paradigms for scholarly research, experimental practice, global action, and communication.

The PIDA is a postgraduate course of high academic level, recognized by the National Quality Postgraduate Program (PNPC) of the National Council of Science and Technology (CONACYT) as a Program of International Competence. It arose in an alliance of Universities of the Central West Region, which, combining their resources and competences, today offer a program that reaches the highest quality standards, to which its Basic Academic Nucleus, made up of twenty-seven professors - researchers with solid academic training, high level of qualification and great experience in the field of research in Architecture. This doctoral program of great academic quality has existed since 2002 and was a pioneer of its kind in the Central West Region of the country; The Autonomous University of Aguascalientes participates in it, The PIDA was created in response to the urgent need to have highly trained people in the areas of Architecture, who are capable of developing high-level research and teaching activities in order to raise the academic quality of the educational programs that are offered. they offer in the region and in the country, as well as to encourage the generation and dissemination of knowledge.

In urban studies, you will take a look at the social issues of the day, study the city in all its dimensions. Whether it is to better understand the territory as a place of habitat, work, and mobility, as a management body or space for individual, collective, and community activities, you will produce knowledge that will guide action on the territory.

The Urban Design & Planning Interdisciplinary Ph.D. at the University of Washington is one of 39 Ph.D. programs in urban and regional planning in North America and one of the oldest, founded in 1967.

The University of Pennsylvania is an intellectually stimulating environment in which to study today’s metropolitan challenges. To develop responses, our Ph.D. students have easy access to a broad, multi-disciplinary faculty and all the resources of a first-rate urban research university.

The Doctor of Philosophy in Urban Studies degree program is an interdisciplinary program within the College of Liberal Arts, Education, and Human Development that enables students of exceptional ability to undertake advanced study and original research in urban affairs and urban history, urban planning, and urban anthropology. The program's mission is to prepare students for careers in scholarly activity, applied research, and policy analysis.

The Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D. HES Architectural Studies) degree is designed for individuals who are interested in acquiring the knowledge and skills that are needed to conduct substantive, innovative, and original research that contribute to the theoretical and methodological foundation of architecture and interior design, and the dissemination of this research through teaching, publication, and practice.

The internationally recognized Ph.D. program in Regional Planning prepares scholars for leadership positions at universities and research institutions in the US and worldwide as faculty and policymakers. It builds a strong foundation of planning and social science theories and hones skills in advanced research methods to develop expertise in a chosen specialization.

The School of Architecture offers the Doctor of Philosophy degree in Architectural Sciences to candidates prepared to undertake innovative and substantive research that adds to the body of knowledge drawn on by the design disciplines.

The Doctoral Degree in Anthropic Sciences, is an interdepartmental and multidisciplinary program offered by the Center for Design and Construction Sciences, the Departments of Construction and Structures, Habitat Design, Geotechnics and Hydraulics, as well as Theory and Methods . This postgraduate course offers greater flexibility as a tutoring system, which strengthens research activities.